Chicken Rice Casserole makes for a crowd-pleasing dinner that comes together in under 5 minutes of prep time.
Made with only 4 ingredients, this dish has juicy chicken breasts and tender rice in a deliciously creamy sauce. This is a casserole that meal packs a lot of flavor in a filling one dish dinner and a meal that everyone will love!
Enjoy!
There is nothing like Chicken Rice Casserole for dinner. This dish is deliciously easy, creamy and totally satisfying and you’ll never believe it needs just 4 ingredients!
This is a special dish because the recipe comes from my BFF, Penny and she’s been making this for years. It’s her go-to, must have, favorite easy weeknight meal that I just had to try.
I have to admit, when I first made it I knew it would be tasty but… I had NO idea what I was in for and it’d definitely become a regular in our rotation!
This easy dish comes together in under 5 minutes, it’s one of the quickest dinner preps on my whole site (along with One Pot Pizza Tortellini Bake).
This dish is belly warming and comforting while being simple and easy to make, it’s like serving a nice warm hug from your Mom!
The chicken comes out incredibly tender and juicy, the rice is perfectly cooked in a rich and creamy sauce and the whole thing is loaded with flavor!
This easy Chicken Rice Casserole takes about an hour to bake (depending on your oven, you may need a few extra minutes but for me it’s about an hour), but that is one of the things that make it kind of the perfect dish.
We’ve made this just as written over and over but I’ve also added a little bit of onion to the bottom of the pan or a couple of handfuls of fresh mushrooms.
With very little minimal prep time, you can slide this casserole into the oven and relax, or maybe help with homework without feeling the usual dinner time rush!
5 minutes of work, and then perhaps a glass of wine or read your book for an hour? I feel like that’s a good idea for ALL weeknights!
I use homemade onion soup mix in this recipe, but you can use the kind in the envelope if you haven’t had a chance to mix up a batch yet. The flavor will be amazing either way!
My friend Penny also said she sometimes replaces the onion soup mix with a packet of gravy mix depending on what she has on hand!
If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, this makes for a delicious lunch the following day.
4 Ingredient Chicken & Rice Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 cup long grain white rice uncooked
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 package onion soup mix or use homemade
- 10 ounces cream of mushroom soup condensed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Spray 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Add chicken breasts and season with salt & pepper.
- Pour uncooked rice over chicken. Sprinkle with onion soup mix.
- Combine mushrooms soup and 1 ½ cups of water. Pour over chicken.
- Cover and bake 1 hour 15 minutes or until rice is tender.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Main Course
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did not turn out. very disappointed. the rice was not cooked all the way. still very soupy. I will not make this again. a waste of time & money.
can this be done in pressure cooker? if it can be done would the cook time be cut in half? I’m making this tonight using the oven but if anyone can reply to my questions I would love to try next time in my pressure cooker.
Hi David, I am not sure how this exact recipe would turn out in a pressure cooker. But we do have this Instant Pot Chicken and Rice that is pretty delicious as well!
Used to make this years ago, but I always put the rice and water in first, then the chicken, then mixed the onion soup and the cream soup together and spread that on top of the chicken. Always came out great.
I’ve had issues with the rice cooking in recipes like this in the past, but it looked so good I had to try it. I was in a condensed soup kinda mood, haha. I made some adjustments to how I added everything to the baking dish, and I used 3 pounded chicken breast and 2 cups of water. I baked it at 375 for an hour. It turned out great, and it’s easy to put together for a weeknight meal. Thank you!
Can this recipe be doubled in a Dutch oven$
Hi Robert, I would worry the rice wouldn’t cook if you doubled it.
Can I use breast tenders instead? Went to market and that’s all they had…
I have not made the recipe with breast tenders, but other readers have. Let us know if you try it Steven!
Family enjoyed this. The only problem was that the rice didnt cook evenly. I would put the rice in first as a bed, instead of pouring it over the chicken. Also, I added raw broccoli florets and used cream of chicken soup.
Holly, if I made this with Progresso gluten free mushroom soup, it’s not condensed. How much water would I need to add
I haven’t tried this with soup that is not condensed so I can’t say for certain but you would need approximately 2 ¾ cups of liquid total including the soup. If the soup is not condensed, you may need extra seasonings in the dish.
has anyone used this as a freezer meal? I was thinking of doubling it and putting one in the freezer.
Ashley, I haven’t tried freezing this casserole but I do think this would freeze perfectly once cooked.
This was delish and husband approved! I used country style pork ribs instead and they just melted in our mouth. I added a few dashes of Worstechire sauce and baked one hour at 325 degrees. Thank you!!
Would using chicken thighs change the temperature and time to cook?
Hi Sandra, chicken thighs have worked well for other readers. Sounds like there is no need to change anything, just ensure the chicken is cooked to 165°F.
can chicken thighs be used instead?? if so do you shorten the cooking time since dark cooks faster then white??
This recipe needs the full cooking time in order to cook the rice.
I am curious, if this is a chicken recipe, why not use cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom soup? I would think it would make the dish taste more like chicken since chicken is weak in flavor. I would use poultry seasoning, also, to enhance the chicken flavor.
Nice dish! Couldn’t be easier. As some other reviewers mentioned, I also added some canned mushrooms (40z), and on the chicken sprinkled salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. I only made 2 breasts, so used approx 1/2 can of the cream of mushroom with roasted garlic (Campbell’s), and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the onion soup mix (the only package I could find was large @ 1.4oz and I didn’t think you meant that size).
It probably would have been ready at the 1hr mark–my internal temp got to about 190deg C, so was a bit overcooked–but good! I’ll be making it again.
Thanks for this EASY recipe!!
I’m so glad you loved this recipe Christine, your version sounds delicious!
This has become my “Lady’s Luncheon” go to recipe…in fact, it gets requested more often than not!
Also a favorite in the family menu rotation and withy grands!
Thanks for sharing!
It was very good. I added broccoli. Thank you.
I made this with my son who’s learning to cook. It was super simple and the whole family loved it! They all said – make this again!
I am so glad your family enjoyed this recipe Heather!
Hi, I just wanted to confirm both the chicken and the rice go in uncooked?
Yes, they both go in uncooked. Enjoy Veronica!
Could this be made with frozen chicken? I haven’t had a chance to thaw anything out.
Hi Jacqui, we recommend using thawed or fresh chicken breasts but other readers have used frozen. I would plan for additional cooking time to ensure the chicken is fully cooked before serving.
Cooked it for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 350 and the rice is no where near ready.
We just cooked it as well and the rice is nowhere near done. Not sure what I did wrong.
Can this be made in an instapot?
Hi Anthony, I am not sure how this exact recipe would turn out in the Instant Pot. But we do have this Instant Pot Chicken and Rice that is pretty delicious as well!
Awesome recipe, used rotisserie chicken, tablespoon of ranch seasoning and cream of chicken in place of the cream of mushroom. Everyone loved it, even my youngest son who’s a very picky eater! Thank you for sharing this recipe!